After reporting an upswing in third quarter earnings Thursday (8/3), Lee Enterprises, Inc. executives told analysts the company will look to widen the use of cash flow beyond debt reduction and may seek additional print or digital acquisitions.

The Davenport-based media company acquired its Quad Cities newspaper competitor, The Dispatch-Argus, in June for $7 million. The Dispatch-Argus primarily served the Illinois Quad Cities (East Moline, Moline and Rock Island), while the Quad City Times serves mainly readers in the Iowa Quad Cities (Bettendorf and Davenport).

"We expect the acquisition to be accretive to earnings and free cash flow in our September (4th) quarter," President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mowbray said. "The transition is off to a good start and we are pleased with the contributions we are already seeing from the Dispatch-Argus."

The proposed Bettendorf city budget would allocate more than $15 million to build a "sports complex" that has yet to be discussed publicly by aldermen.

The budget – which will be discussed at an all-day public work session Saturday (2/11) – includes $2 million for purchase of land for the "sports complex," more than $2 million for roads, lighting and sewer extensions for the project, and lists the issuance of $11.2 million in debt (bonds and notes) to finance the facility construction.

In an interesting coincidence involving Lee Enterprises' largest newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Davenport-based media firm announced it had paid off debt related to acquisition of that paper in 2005, while confirming today (6/26) it was laying off eight St. Louis newsroom employees.

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